Conventionally, a liquid crystal display element has been widely used as a component of an information display section in a gaming device such as a pinball machine.
A recent gaming device is required to be capable of displaying, in its information display section, (i) information to be displayed on the liquid crystal display element and (ii) an accessory etc. provided behind the liquid crystal display element. This will be described below with reference to FIG. 12, which illustrates how a gaming device is schematically configured, and with reference to (a) through (c) of FIG. 13, each of which illustrates a display in an information display section of the gaming device.
As illustrated in FIG. 12, a gaming device 90 includes, on its front surface, a circular game board 92 via which a game player can view how a game is developing. The game board 92 includes, at its substantially central portion, an information display section 94 which is mainly constituted by a liquid crystal display element.
The information display section 94 displays various kinds of information depending on a situation of the game. As illustrated in (a) of FIG. 13, in a case where the information display section 94 displays three figures in accordance with a situation of the game, like a slot machine, the information display section 94 displays the figures such as “567” as an image of the liquid crystal display element.
In a case where all the three figures become identical (e.g., “777”) as illustrated in (b) of FIG. 13, a region where the midmost figure “7” is displayed becomes transparent. This causes the information display section 94 to display (i) the two figures “7” and “7” displayed on the liquid crystal display element and (ii) an accessory 52 (doll) provided, in advance, behind the liquid crystal display element (see (c) of FIG. 13).
In order to achieve such a display which employs (i) the image displayed on the liquid crystal display element and (ii) the accessory, there have been proposed a variety of techniques.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique of using a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal element as an LCD shutter. This technique is described below with reference to FIGS. 14 through 17. FIG. 14 is an elevation view illustrating an overall configuration of a gaming machine disclosed in Patent Literature 1. As illustrated in FIG. 14, a gaming machine 101 of Patent Literature 1 includes a game board 106, which includes a center case 111 at its central portion. An image display device 108 which displays an image is provided in the center case 111.
Specifically, the center case 111 is mainly made up of an armor section 409, the image display device 108, and an accessory 506 provided behind the image display device 108 (see FIG. 15, which is an exploded perspective view illustrating how the center case 111 is configured).
The image display device 108 mainly includes a first liquid crystal panel 501, diffusing plates 502, a light guide plate 503, a reflecting plate 504, and an LCD shutter 505, which are arranged in this order (see FIG. 16, which illustrates how the image display device 108 is configured). The image display device 108 further includes (i) an LCD light emitting element 513, for an image display, which is provided in the vicinity of an end of the light guide plate 503 and (ii) a light emitting element 514, for an accessory, which is provided in the vicinity of an end of the LCD shutter 505.
According to the gaming machine 101 of Patent Literature 1, the LCD shutter 505 which constitutes the image display device 108 is realized by a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display element. The polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display element allows switching between states where (i) the accessory 506 is visible and (ii) the accessory 506 is not visible. This will be described below with reference to (a) and (b) of FIG. 17, each of which is an explanatory view illustrating an operation principle of the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display element which constitutes the LCD shutter 505. (a) of FIG. 17 illustrates how liquid crystal molecules are oriented while a voltage is being applied, and (b) of FIG. 17 illustrates how the liquid crystal molecules are aligned while no voltage is applied.
As illustrated in (a) and (b) of FIG. 17, transmitting of the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display element differs depending on whether or not a voltage is applied to its liquid crystal layer. Specifically, as illustrated in (a) of FIG. 17, the incident light transmits the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display element while a voltage is being applied to the liquid crystal layer (LCD shutter 505: ON). In this state, the accessory 506 provided behind the image display device 108 is visible to a game player.
In contrast, as illustrated in (b) of FIG. 17, the incident light is scattered by the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display element while no voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer. This causes the liquid crystal layer to become clouded (LCD shutter 505: OFF). In this state, the accessory 506 provided behind the image display device 108 is not visible to the game player.
As described above, since the gaming machine 101 of Patent Literature 1 employs the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal display element, it is possible to control whether the accessory 506 provided behind the image display device 108 is visible or invisible (shielded or not shielded).
Patent Literature 2 discloses a configuration in which a reel 604 having designs is employed (see FIG. 18). FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a panel display section of Patent Literature 2.
According to the configuration of Patent Literature 2, (i) picture sheets 600 which are made of transparent films and on which various pictures are printed, (ii) a performance display section 601 which is constituted by a liquid crystal display device constituted by for example ITO, and (iii) an electronic shutter section 602 constituted by a liquid crystal film or the like are stacked on an inner surface side of a panel display section 606 made of a transparent acrylic plate (see FIG. 18). At a bottom part and an upper part on the inner surface side of the panel display section 606, there are provided first and second cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) 603 which serve as (i) a backlight for a liquid crystal display and (ii) an illumination device for illuminating the patterns on the reel 604, respectively.
The panel display section 606, the picture sheets 600, the performance display section 601, and the electronic shutter section 602 as a whole serve as a part which displays a performance.
The following description discusses operations of the above constituent elements. The pictures printed on the picture sheets 600 are always visible to a game player regardless of a state of the performance of the pachinko-slot machine.
In contrast, the performance display section 601 is a display region where an image performance such as a jackpot performance and various announcement performances are displayed.
The electronic shutter section 602 switches between a transmitting state and a shielded state in a predetermined region in accordance with a voltage applied to the electronic shutter section 602. That is, the electronic shutter section 602 switches between states where (i) a design on the reel 604 is visible through the panel display section 606 and (ii) the design on the reel 604 is not visible. This allows the performance made by the performance display section 601 to be switched between (a) a normal state where only the performance display is visible because the designs on the reel 604 are shielded by the electronic shutter section 602 and (b) a translucent state where both the performance display and a design, on the reel 604 provided behind the panel display section 606, are visible.